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Cadw sites open doors for free heritage weekend

Cadw sites open doors for free heritage weekend

Tuesday 23 September 2014

Cadw's Chief Executive, Kate Clark, and the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates AM, with children from Cefn Primary School.

More than 20 of Wales’s most popular historic attractions will open their doors for free to thousands of visitors this weekend, Ken Skates, the new Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, revealed today (Tuesday, September 23).

As part of its Open Doors celebration, Cadw has released 10,000 free tickets across 23 of its sites for use on Saturday, September 27 and Sunday, September 28.

Caernarfon, Conwy and Caerphilly castles, all of which feature in the top 10 list of most popular paid for attractions in Wales, are among the sites taking part in the initiative that aims to encourage people to explore Welsh history.

Open Doors, the largest volunteer event in the heritage sector in Wales, has seen hundreds of iconic venues across Wales offer free entry to thousands of visitors throughout September. Many other historic sites that are normally closed to the public will also provide a rare opportunity for a glimpse inside.

This year, Cadw has, for the first time, both funded and organised the annual event, as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations.

Mr Skates said: “Cadw is committed to making heritage more accessible and we feel this is the perfect way of encouraging people to explore the rich history Wales has to offer.

“Open Doors showcases our incredible heritage and we felt it was important that Cadw sites joined the hundreds of Welsh venues that have taken part in this year’s celebration.“We hope to see thousands of people discovering the dramatic stories at Cadw sites across Wales this weekend.”

Mr Skates made the announcement from Caerphilly Castle where he was visiting children from Cefn Primary School in Pontypridd taking part in a free educational visit.

More than 2,300 pupils visited Caerphilly Castle in the last academic year as part of Cadw’s free education programme for schools.

For more information and to register for free entry to a Cadw site this weekend, visit our Open Doors page.